Top Stories for the Week of August 9th.

These are the top stories for this week.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Israel rejects the Trump administration’s 15-point Gaza peace plan. The rejection comes more than a week after Trump touted a breakthrough via his Board of Peace, and as Hamas maintains it will only proceed if Israel halts strikes and pulls back to the ceasefire’s “yellow line.” Source

President Trump was secretly moved to a different aircraft using an airport catering truck last month after U.S. intelligence detected a credible Iranian plot to strike his plane as he departed a NATO summit in Turkey. The president has described himself as Iran’s “number one target” amid the ongoing war, CBS News reported exclusively. Source

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, at 28 the youngest person to hold the job in U.S. history, is departing her role at the end of the month. President Trump said Leavitt will step down to spend more time with her young children and family. See Details

A new study found that three of the four leading AI chatbots are more likely to accept political falsehoods originating from the left than the right, and frequently cite sources that do not support their claims or do not exist at all. See Details

Seven sitting House Democrats have now lost primaries this cycle, five of them past retirement age, as younger challengers aligned with the Democratic Socialists of America topple longtime incumbents in what strategists call a hunger for generational change. Source

In an upset, moderate Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley defeated democratic socialist Francesca Hong in Wisconsin’s Democratic gubernatorial primarys. Crowley will now face Republican Rep. Tom Tiffany in the general election, setting up one of the fall’s marquee governor’s races. Read More

President Trump signed an executive order Monday narrowing the list of vaccines universally recommended for children, cutting the number of required childhood immunizations from 18 to 11 diseases. Find out More

Republicans are planning a September convention in Dallas built around casting Democrats as captive to their activist left, with organizers compiling months of footage targeting figures like Michigan Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed. A source involved in planning the event, billed as a “socialism telethon,” said the campaign’s “video trove is endless.” Source

Appointed Sen. Darline Graham and Rep. Ralph Norman advanced to a runoff in South Carolina’s special Republican primary for U.S. Senate, NBC News projects. The runoff will decide who fills the seat vacated by longtime Sen. Lindsey Graham, with both candidates now courting the party’s base ahead of the next vote. See Details

The Justice Department unveiled criminal charges against 11 people accused of running an “extensive marriage fraud scheme” involving more than 1,000 sham marriages between Chinese nationals and U.S. citizens dating back to 2016. Attorney General Todd Blanche called it one of the largest marriage fraud prosecutions in U.S. history at a press conference announcing the indictment. Find out More

The nonpartisan Cook Political Report shifted Ohio Rep. Max Miller’s seat from “Likely Republican” to “Toss Up,” reflecting growing political fallout from domestic-related allegations against the congressman. Source

Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth won the Republican primary for governor, defeating Trump-backed Mike Lindell and positioning herself as the GOP’s standard-bearer heading into the general election, reports Axios. Demuth’s win caps a primary season that saw the party consolidate quickly behind an establishment favorite. Find out More

The latest Powerball drawing carried an estimated $856 million jackpot, the largest of 2026 so far. Lottery officials say jackpots are expected to grow even more quickly following Powerball’s recent expansion to the United Kingdom, which has widened the pool of players. See Details

Taylor Farms recalled salsa and guacamole containing jalapeños from Walmart, Kroger, Target and other retailers across roughly 20 states over potential salmonella contamination. The California-based supplier said it has stopped sourcing from the Mexican farm identified as the likely source. Source

The U.S. Department of Agriculture recalled nearly 13.4 metric tons of Argentine beef distributed in Texas and Florida after the products entered the market before a mandatory import reinspection was completed, though officials say no food-safety issue was involved. Read More

Luigi Mangione, the suspect in the killing of UnitedHealth Group executive Brian Thompson, is expected to plead guilty in a separate stalking case, according to a new report. Read More

New USCIS rules taking effect for green card applicants pending as of Aug. 5 will require more complete supporting evidence upfront, immigration attorneys say. Family-based applicants and others without legal representation are seen as particularly vulnerable, since missing even a single document could upend an otherwise valid case. Source

Alabama, Oklahoma, and Tennessee will carry out the death penalty against inmates. This is the first time since 2010 that three states have executed prisoners on the same day. Read More

S&P 500 companies beat earnings estimates by 29% this quarter, more than four times the historical average and the largest surprise on record since 2008. Even stripping out Alphabet and Amazon’s outsized accounting gains, S&P 500 earnings growth still came in at 32%, well above historical norms, with semiconductor earnings surging 135% on AI-driven demand. Source

Inflation, as measured by the Consumer Price Index, rose 0.1% from June to July, with the annual rate dropping slightly to 3.4%, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. Average hourly earnings slipped compared with a year earlier, meaning inflation has now outpaced wage growth for four straight months. Read More

July inflation ticked up 0.1% from June, with the annual rate holding above wage growth for a fourth straight month as elevated energy costs continue to squeeze household budgets. See Details

Applied Materials shares fell despite solid earnings results, part of a broader second-quarter earnings season that FactSet data shows is on pace for the S&P 500’s strongest growth rate since 2021. Source

The global diesel market is growing more precarious as the war in Ukraine and the Iran crisis squeeze supply from multiple directions at once. Diesel price swings ripple through economies at home and abroad, driving up shipping costs and construction expenses. Read More

U.S. employers unexpectedly cut 23,000 jobs in July, the first monthly decline since February, alongside steep downward revisions to prior months that hint at deeper cracks in the labor market than previously known. The unemployment rate ticked down to 4.1% even as the payroll losses caught economists off guard. Source

President Trump demanded Monday that Iran compensate victims’ families and Middle Eastern nations before the Strait of Hormuz reopens, after Tehran said it would not lift its blockade without compensation for war damage. Iranian-backed Houthi rebels also struck the Yemeni port city of Mocha for the second time in 24 hours, threatening to widen the conflict into the Red Sea. Find out More

Pakistan’s defense minister said the U.S. and Iran are close to “some sort of an arrangement” that could lead to a peace deal, even as President Trump maintains the U.S. controls the Strait of Hormuz and insists Iran’s economy is suffering under the ongoing war. The comments offered a note of optimism after months of stalled negotiations between Washington and Tehran. Source

A total solar eclipse crossed the Northern Hemisphere Wednesday, with the path of totality sweeping across Greenland, Iceland and northern Spain in Europe’s first encounter with totality since 1999. Crowds gathered across the continent, including in London and Berlin, to view the rare event, which coincided with the annual Perseid meteor shower. Read More

North Korea launched a ballistic missile ahead of a joint U.S.-South Korea military exercise. The launch is the latest in a series of provocations timed to coincide with allied drills in the region. Read More

War Secretary Pete Hegseth said the U.S. military can maintain its naval blockade of Iranian ports indefinitely by rotating ships in and out of the region, doubling down on President Trump’s stance that the U.S. is in “total control” of the Strait of Hormuz. Source

“Spider-Man: Brand New Day” became the fastest movie of the year to cross $700 million domestically, extending its run as one of the top box-office performers of 2026. Find out More

Anne Hathaway is riding a packed year of film roles and is set to headline an adaptation of the novel “Yesteryear.” Hathaway said the role marks a return to more character-driven work after several high-profile blockbuster turns. See Details

Hollywood’s summer box office has already crossed the $4 billion benchmark that was standard before the pandemic, driven by strong holds for “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” and Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey,” which became his highest-grossing film. It marks only the second summer since COVID to hit that mark, following the “Barbenheimer” summer of 2023. Find out More

“Spider-Man: Brand New Day” is on pace for one of the best-ever 10-day box office starts after pulling in $143 million in its second weekend. The Sony superhero blockbuster starring Tom Holland and Zendaya continues to build on a record-setting opening frame. Find out More

Matthew McConaughey picked up a mandolin to perform a bluegrass cover of Ella Langley’s chart-topping “Choosin’ Texas” on “The Tonight Show,” prompting Langley to say on social media she may never recover from watching it. Find out More

Newsweek has an exclusive first look at a deleted scene from “Toy Story 5,” which arrives on digital platforms August 18 ahead of a disc release the following month. The scene offers fans an early glimpse before the film’s full home release. Source

The Los Angeles Lakers are being sold to businessmen Josh Kushner and Bob Iger for a record $12.5 billion, ending Mark Walter’s brief ownership tenure after he bought the team from the Buss family for roughly $10 billion last year. Kushner, the brother of Jared Kushner, will have to sell his minority stake in the Miami Heat to clear the way for the purchase. Find out More

The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Minnesota Twins 7-1 in the MLB Field of Dreams game at the permanent Dyersville, Iowa stadium, with the Twins continuing an inconsistent season amid a muddled AL Wild Card race. Find out More

Indiana Fever coach Stephanie White pushed back on “the divisiveness that’s trying to hijack our league,” addressing recent controversy head-on. White told reporters the team will not let outside narratives distract from its playoff push, echoing similar comments she made in a pregame statement defending her players. Read More

The Philadelphia 76ers announced that LeBron James’ debut with the franchise will come against the defending NBA champion New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden on the league’s opening night of the 2026-27 season. The October 20 matchup is one of three games slated for the NBA’s marquee opening slate. Find out More

LSU Cornerback DJ Pickett refused to give up his jersey number 5 despite former Heisman Trophy winner and current Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels protesting by issuing a cease-and-desist letter to the school demanding that it no longer use his name, image, and likeness. Source

A Texas Judge backed a decision by Little League Baseball to remove a team from Tulsa, Oklahoma, from the Little League World Series for using an ineligible player. Source

The Chicago Cubs hold a 98.8% chance of reaching the postseason as MLB’s playoff races tighten with under two months left in the regular season, with the Red Sox and Braves also surging. Most divisions remain hotly contested, and both wild-card races are open to nearly anyone. Source

The Perseid meteor shower, one of the year’s most reliable displays, is ramping up toward its peak this week as Earth passes through debris from the comet Swift-Tuttle. Skywatchers with clear, dark conditions should be able to catch dozens of meteors an hour during the shower’s best viewing nights. Read More

An Ohio bride and groom, both McDonald’s employees, tied the knot inside the restaurant where they work, with the bride handing sauce packets to an unsuspecting customer while still in her wedding dress. Read More

A recreation of a two-year-old “brainrot” dance meme by YouTuber MrBeast has become the most-reposted TikTok in the platform’s history, racking up more than 266 million views and 33 million likes in under 10 days. MrBeast later posted behind-the-scenes footage after viewers questioned whether the dance video was AI-generated.  See Details